Changing
by youth and books
Summary: Silence, serenity and kung fu was almost everything on Tigress' life, but after having changed a certain panda into someone, well, like her, she's going to value more the tiny things of life.
1. Serenity

A lot of things had changed since the arrival of the Dragon Warrior. Tai Lung was stopped and never was going to harm anyone again. Shen failed on his attempt to conquer China. The valley was living peacefully, without concerning about the danger. Master Viper, Monkey, Crane and Mantis changed too, they were stronger, faster, smarter, and the most important of all, they were happier. Only one simple thing never changed, and it was Master Tigress personality.

She, on the contrary, was acting stranger than ever, since their mission in Gongmen City Tigress was having changes of mood, one day she was normal, but at the next day her mood could change from being normal to being mad, or serious, or crazy.

Nobody, even Master Shifu, knew what had happened to the tiger at their mission. Whatever it was, it should have been something really big.

**Jade Palace (5:00 a.m.)**

That day Tigress was very eager to start workout. Although everybody was sleeping, she couldn't sleep, her bed was uncomfortable, the room very cold, etc.

But the real reason she couldn't sleep was that, she remembered that moment. With only thinking on it her cheeks began to blush. She tried to forget it, but that hug, it can't be simply forgotten.

When her big and fluffy panda friend hugged her, she was in shock, especially because nobody ever had hugged her. The fur of the panda was so soft that it felt like if she was hugging a cloud. She didn't know what it was about, but every time she remembered that hug, something in her chest began to felt warmer and warmer.

However, that thought was enough for her to remember that kung fu was before friendship, or anything.

Carefully for not waking anybody, Tigress slid out from her bed, stretched up a little bit the legs, and opened the slide door of her room.

During all the way of the corridor, Tigress had to walk on tiptoes, breathing slowly and gently. She passed Po's room, watching a big panda sleeping and snoring on the floor without even noticing that a blanket was covering his head.

After passing the panda's room, the rest was as easy as fighting with a bandit (or at least that was easy to her).

Finally she arrived to the Training Hall. It was beautiful…the silence was beautiful. That would've been the first time training there with such serenity since, well, an eternity, because Po was always doing jokes, or pranks, or noise.

That one was a perfect moment to Tigress, so she decided to start it as fast as she could.

'Let's start with fifty push-ups and after that I'll be ten minutes in the Swinging Clubs, just as warm up. Then the real workout will begin' Tigress was repeating to herself while stretching her hips, arms and legs.

It was time to start, but Tigress waited a seconds for something, or someone. Nothing.

'Well, there's no Po, that's fine' Tigress said, glad about it. After that she start the workout. The fifty push-ups were really easy, so she did another fifty. Just when she finished that part of her training, she passed to the clubs.

She dodged, and dodged, and dodged the clubs for six minutes before she started to punch some with her fists.

Four minutes more, four minutes, and the real training would've been started, but while she was dodging and punching, a figure of white and black appeared.

'Tigress, what are you doing at this hour?' Po asked while yawning.

When she heard that voice, all her plans of training disappeared, just as all her thoughts disappeared when one club hit her really hard on the head, sending her out of the Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion and right next to Po.

'Tigress! Are you okay?' asked him worried about the stroke she received. Po tried to help her stand offering his hand, but instead of feeling a hand or an arm, he felt a fist right on his shoulder, making him shake. 'Why was that for?' he asked.

'That is what you deserve for distracting me!' answered Tigress rudely.

Tigress was mad, but at the end she started to calm down, so Po broke the silence.

'So…Tigress…what were you doing?' the panda asked with a low and nervous voice.

'I was drinking tea with the emperor Po…' the tiger answered sarcastically, like she was used to.

'Well, it looked more like you were training on the Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion' Po said innocently.

'If you already knew that I was training, why did you asked me what I was doing?' Tigress was still talking very rude.

Now Po's face wasn't of innocence, or happiness, or pain. No. His expression immediately changed into a concerned one. 'Well, you never train at this hour, I mean, so early. And also it looked like if something was disturbing you…I'm just worried about you.'

Those words changed completely Tigress' mood, from anger to sadness, but she didn't show it. Instead of showing "weakness", she just turned around and remained quiet.

'Tigress' Po interrupted her thoughts, 'would you want to eat something?'

'No thanks Po' she said softly trying not to sound rude anymore.

'Please'

'No'

'Please'

'No'

'Please'

'No Po!' Tigress was trying to control herself, but that panda made it difficult.

Both of them didn't said anything for a time, until Po broke the silence, like always.

'Pretty please' he asked.

Tigress was near to burst, but she could calm herself. 'Po, you're going to be like this all the day, am I right?'

Po nodded. Tigress had no escape; she had to go to lunch with him.

'Alright Po, let's go and eat someth…'

'Great! I'm going to prepare some noodles! You're going to love it!' Po was excited; it was very notorious because of the tone of his voice while he was talking. He barely could talk.


	2. Tofu and noodles

'You are going to love my noodles Tigress!' Po said happily about the tiger's answer.

'Po, I don't think I would like nood…' Tigress couldn't finish what she was going to say because of the big panda that grabbed her of the paw, leading her to the kitchen.

After arriving there, the panda opened some of the kitchen's cupboards, taking out vegetables, plates, casseroles, etc. While he was doing that, Po was asking her different things too.

'What do you want in your noodles Tigress? Tell me and I'll prepare it. With carrots, without carrots, salt, pepper.'

'Po…' the tiger was trying to say him that she didn't want noodles, but she couldn't. The panda was talking the fastest he could without stopping.

'I know! I'm going to prepare the Secret Ingredient Soup…'

'Po…' Tigress was trying to be calmed, but he was driving her crazy.

'I prepare the soup with or without radishes?'

'Po…' the panda wasn't listening her; he was very worried about preparing the perfect soup for her.

'Wait! But if she doesn't like radishes…or if she's allergic to them!' the tone of his voice was demonstrating that he really was worried about the soup.

'Po…'

'Or maybe I can replace the radishes with potatoes and add more salt…that's perfect!' The panda's state changed quickly from worry to calm. 'Tigress, were you trying to say me something?'

The situation was becoming very annoying, but fortunately the panda finally was hearing her.

'Yes Po' she said, 'I was trying to tell you that I do not want noodles, I'm okay with a plate of tofu.'

'Tofu?' the panda asked, confused. He was planning to prepare her the best soup of all China, and all she really wanted was "tofu".

'Yeah Po, tofu.' she answered.

'Really? Because you know, if you want I can prepare you some noodles, or bean buns, or dumplings.'

'No thanks Po, I just want tofu.' Tigress was talking softly. She had no anger anymore. But on the other hand, the panda was getting really annoyed about the tiger's idea for a lunch.

'Tofu?' he asked, again.

'Tofu'

'Tofu?' he couldn't believe that of all the delicacies of the world, she just wanted tofu, it was like an offense to him.

"Not again." that was what Tigress was thinking after realizing the panda was starting with one of his nonsense. 'Yes Po, tofu…T.O.F.U., tofu'

'Tofu tofu, you want…tofu…the one made of soybean and water?' the panda was very annoying at that moment.

'No Po, I want dumplings but I called them tofu' Tigress was using sarcasm, which meant she was already annoyed, very annoyed.

'So…you want tofu…or dumplings?'

'Po…' the voice of Tigress had changed from soft to serious. It also was sending a message: _Po, if you continue like this, I'm going to hit you right in the face._

The panda rapidly understood the message of the tiger, so he decided to stop all the nonsense.

'Okay Tigress, you want tofu, tofu will be.' Po took out some white cubes, and started cutting them in pieces while lightly muttering, "Tofu…she wants tofu instead of noodles…what is better than noodles. I know what, nothing."

A few minutes later, Tigress received a plate with some small cubes of tofu. Finally, she was going to eat. The hunger she felt was so much that she didn't even notice the panda at her side, eating a big plate of noodles.

Although Po was devouring his lunch, he wasn't making any noise. A little smile was appearing on the face of the tiger because of the moment, such silence, and such serenity. It was a perfect moment for her.

She took some chopsticks that were lying on the dinning table, but just as she was going to eat, the rest members of the Furious Five appeared.

'Good morning Po!' yelled Monkey.

Po tried to talk, but his mouth was full of food, and indeed some noodles were hanging from his chin. After he swallowed and cleaned his face, he said cheerily, 'Good morning to everyone.'

'So Po, what are you eating?' asked Viper.

'Oh, well, I'm eating some noodles, but Tigress decided to eat tofu.' Po answered, not so happy after remembering the previous situation.

'What? Did I just hear well? Tigress refused your noodles? And instead of it she preferred some tasteless tofu!' Mantis was astonished; Po's soup was one of the best meals he had ever tasted.

'Come on Tigress, you have to eat Po's noodles." Monkey begged to her.

'It's useless guys' Po said, trying to calm them, but instead of it, they started to annoy Tigress with questions that didn't make any sense.

The tiger was feeling nagged on that moment, all the serenity, all the silence, disappeared just in seconds, and all because of Po. If he hadn't been so persistent with his stupid soup, nothing of that would've happened. It was his entire fault.

She was so mad at Po that she even stopped hearing Mantis and Monkey. Then, a feminine voice interrupted both the guys and her thoughts.

'Please guys, stop being so annoying.' Viper said.

Finally there was silence again. Tigress was so relieved about that.

'Thanks Viper' she was calming down again when, unfortunately, Viper said something that annoyed her too.

'You're welcome Tigress, but…you should eat Po's soup, it's pretty good.' The last words that came out of the snake's mouth were the straw that broke the camel's back.

Tigress stood up, slamming the table pretty hard. Now she was mad.

There was a death silence when she did that.

'I'm not hungry any more' the tiger said angrily. After that she retired of the kitchen.

'Oh Po, what have you done? Now she is really angry.' Monkey mentioned, broking the silence.

'Me?' Po asked. 'But…what have I done?'


	3. Meditation

After Tigress retired, she went to her room. She was furious. All the way to her room, she was repeating to herself, "It's all Po's fault."

A few minutes had passed since she left the kitchen, making an expression of fear and confusion grew in the faces of the Furious Five.

Finally, the tiger arrived to her room. She entered, and then closed the door fiercely. Now, with no one watching her, she sat on a meditation position, inhaling and exhaling slowly, trying to focus, although she couldn't. On that precise moment, Tigress couldn't think in any other thing than that panda.

"Focus", the tiger was meditating, trying to calm down, "Focus", but every time she closed her eyes, she saw Po…ruining the kung fu. "Focus", there he was, making jokes while he was supposed to train. "Focus", fighting with Tigress about tofu and noodles. "Focus", playing on dinnertime with Monkey, Crane, Mantis, and even Viper! "Focus", there he was, "Focus", hugging her.

When she realized what was her last remembrance of the panda, she opened the eyes rapidly, in shock. Then, all of a sudden, a great wave of anger appeared, making the tiger to angrily punch the floor.

'What is happening to me?' asked Tigress to herself, while breathing rapidly.

After a large and silent pause, Tigress door was opened, but not by the tiger, but by a worried snake.

'Tigress?' Viper asked, softly.

'What do you want?' asked the tiger.

'Are you okay, because in the kitchen you…'

'Yes Viper, I'm very fine, can't you see?' she was talking rudely, because on that moment she wasn't on mood of talking to someone.

'Tigress, you don't seem okay. If only you could tell me what is happening? Maybe I could help you.' It could be easily noticed that Viper was worried because of the tone of her voice.

'Viper, I'm okay, just leave me alone please, I need to be alone for a moment.' The tone of her voice was very harsh, but the snake could detect a sad tone on her voice too.

'Okay Tigress, I'm going, but remember, if you need to talk I'll be there for you.'

Tigress saw her friend got out of the room. After she was all alone again, the tiger began to meditate. She closed her eyes, but as her vision became darker, the figure of a certain panda appeared.

Before she could lose the control, Viper entered to her room again.

'Viper I told you to…'

'Tigress, bandits!' As she heard that, she quickly stood up from her meditation position and followed Viper, who was leading her to the bandits and the others Furious.

When they arrived where the bandits were, Tigress found Po and the Furious Five fighting with some rhinos at the town square.

There were fifteen rhinos against the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior. Viper rapidly entered to the battle, but Tigress decided to analyze the situation a little bit.

After the tiger finished analyzing, she entered to the battle too. She helped Monkey that was having some problems with four rhinos. Tigress dodged all the punches and kicks of the bandits, and with the help of Monkey she beat them.

'Tigress! Where were you?' asked Crane when he noticed that Master Tigress was fighting with them. But the tiger didn't answered.

By just remembering all her thoughts, Tigress was getting madder and madder. Fortunately, she used that anger to knock out all the bandits.

Both the Furious Five and Po stopped fighting and started watching the tiger beat up their opponents. She dodged, punched, kicked, and dodged again until after thirty seconds, all the bandits were down.

The tiger was breathing slowly, and just when she was calming, she heard a voice.

'Tigress…that…was…awesome!' Po yelled, 'You were like this and they were like that!' the panda was trying to imitate Tigress fighting, but he just looked very bad, and after he tried to imitate a flying kick, he felt to the ground.

Tigress saw the panda and began to feel some anger because of the way he was imitating her. What she didn't understand was that Po really was amazed about her fighting style; she thought that he was making fun of her.

Tigress was so distracted with Po that she didn't noticed the rhino that stood up behind her, and punch her right in her stomach, making her to kneel.

'Tigress! Are you okay?' Po yelled and went with her to help, while Mantis kicked that rhino's butt. 'Tigress! Are you…'

Just when he got near to her, she growled. 'Po…you…you…better not talk to me…or I will…' Tigress couldn't finish what she was going to say, because while she was talking she remembered it again; that hug.

The tiger stopped her threat to the panda, and run out of the town square, leaving him confused, again. But this time he was going to do something, so he followed her.

'Tigress, wait!' Po yelled her, but she didn't care. She was very busy with her thoughts.

'What the hell is happening to me?' That simple question was passing through her head over and over while she was running in her four legs.

She ran and ran, until finally she arrived to the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom.

She stopped there, just at the side of the peach tree. She closed her eyes, sat down in meditate position and started to meditate, or at least to try, because she couldn't.

Her breathing started to be faster and faster. Then, all of a sudden, Po appeared.

'Ti-ti-tigress, a-a-are you o-okay?' He was trying to talk while gaining breath; the panda wasn't in the same condition as the tiger. After he recovered, he talked again. 'Tigress, are you okay?' But she ignored him.

'Tigress, please, tell me what's the problem' Po was getting worried and worried about the tiger's attitude.

'Tigress, could you tell…'

'Po…' She interrupted him, breathed slowly and continued, 'You really want to know what's the problem?' she asked. He nodded. 'You…you are my problem Po.'

Those last words left the panda speechless.

'I am the problem…'


End file.
